Self-assembly of collagen building blocks guided by electric fields

Roberto de la Rica; Ernest Mendoza; Lesley W Chow; Kristy L Cloyd; Sergio Bertazzo; Hannah C Watkins; Joseph A M Steele; Molly M Stevens

doi:10.1002/smll.201400424

Self-assembly of collagen building blocks guided by electric fields

Small. 2014 Oct 15;10(19):3876-9. doi: 10.1002/smll.201400424. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

Authors

Roberto de la Rica¹, Ernest Mendoza, Lesley W Chow, Kristy L Cloyd, Sergio Bertazzo, Hannah C Watkins, Joseph A M Steele, Molly M Stevens

Affiliation

¹ Department of Materials, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK; Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK.

Abstract

Show me the way: protein building blocks are programmed to assemble hierarchically and yield a defined fiber morphology of micrometric length and precise nanometric diameter. The key step of this method is to align the building blocks with an AC field prior to assembly. The resulting protein nanofibers are straightforwardly integrated with the circuitry for potential applications in bionanotechnology.

Keywords: bionanotechnology; collagen; microfabrication; nanostructures; self-assembly.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biotechnology
Collagen / chemistry*
Electrochemistry*
Electrodes
Microelectrodes
Microscopy, Atomic Force
Nanofibers / chemistry*
Nanostructures / chemistry
Nanotechnology
Proteins / chemistry

Substances

Proteins
Collagen

Grants and funding

206807/ERC_/European Research Council/International